Photo by Jake McNeill Wabasso’s Avery Carlson (23) shoots a layup over a Canby defender in the Rabbits’ 45-34 loss to the Lancers in the Borch’s Holiday Classic at Southwest Minnesota State University on Wednesday night.

MARSHALL — The Canby girls’ basketball team pulled away in the second half of their matchup against Wabasso in the Borch’s Holiday Classic at Southwest Minnesota State University Wednesday night for a 45-34 win.

Anistasia Smith went down with a lower-body injury early in the second half, a moment which Wabasso head coach Neil Dolan described as a momentum shift.

“We lost our post, that hurt big time… it’s hard to recover from that because we don’t have another true post besides her. It didn’t cost us the game by no means, but it was a momentum changer. We had it at a 3-point game, all of a sudden it’s 9, then it’s 11,” Dolan said.

Brynn Kockelman lead the Lancers’ scoring efforts with 13 points, including 3-8 shooting on 3-point attempts.

Aiding in the scoring efforts, Kortney Leppke and Braelyn Merritt each contributed 9 points.

Canby’s play looked crisper than it has all season, with the exception of a 46-point win over Ortonville in their home opener. Canby head coach Jeff Thovson attributed the change to the confidence of the young group.

“You got to have that self-confidence to go out and play hard. Even when you make a mistake, you learn from it and move forward,” Thovson said.

Kelsey Frank and Avery Carlson led the Rabbits in scoring, with 12 and 11 points respectively. Carlson also had team-highs in rebounds, with seven, and assists, with four.

Kortney Leppke’s seven rebounds and three assists were both tied for team-highs. AshleeAnn Frazeur also had seven rebounds, while Paige Nelson also had seven rebounds and three assists.

Shooting struggles were a major factor in Wabasso’s struggles. As a team, the rabbits shot 32% from the field and 21% from 3-point range.

“We’ve just got to shoot better,” Dolan said. “The last few games, we’re shooting 25, 35%. We’ve got to shoot better, we’ve got to get better looks.”

The Lancers tried to eliminate Wabasso’s ability to slash to the rim, and while they were unable to do so in the first half, the team did a good job of making the adjustment after halftime, Thovson said.

Following the win, Thovson is optimistic about his team going forward in the season.

“They’re a very coachable group, they’re fun to have around, we’ll see where we go,” Thovson said. “We could end up being pretty good, it’s a marathon right now, not a sprint.

Wabasso (2-4) will next play on the road against Cedar Mountain Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., while Canby (3-4)will host Murray County Central Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.